It only took one unofficial visit to Western Kentucky for Vestavia Hills (AL) two-star defensive back Marcus Ward to commit to the Hilltoppers.

It all started when Nate Dennison, director of player personnel at WKU, gave Ward a visit on a Friday three weeks ago, "he came up and saw me and I talked to him a little bit, he talked to my dad also and we decided to come up to Western Kentucky the next day on an unofficial visit," Ward said.

"My family, my mom and dad, came up and we toured the facilities, all the educational buildings, the field and at the end of it got to talk to coach Petrino for about an hour, it was good to see him, talk to him, it was a really good trip," Ward explained.

So good, that Ward committed to Western Kentucky on December 22nd, 2012, ironically, the day after the world was suppose to end. This only proves that football recruiting will always conquer any Mayan calendar predictions.

If you label Marcus Ward as a "cover" corner, you'd be sadly mistaken. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder made the transition from cornerback to strong safety during his senior season which allowed him to become even more involved in plays that displayed his physicality.

When asked to describe himself as a player, Ward's response: "The number one thing is being really smart. Coming off this past year and being a leader on the defense I had to know everything that was going on defensively, what to call, what the (opposing) offense is doing, what we studied that week before and what we were going to do that Friday."

Ward plans on making his official visit to WKU on January 25th. He held offers from Air Force, South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, and UAB among others.